This Family of 4 Shares a Cozy 2-Bedroom Bohemian London Townhouse
Adrienne Breaux
·4 min read
"As the house is small, we don't have many accessories," begins Monica Guech. "So we basically use books, frames, plants, and flowers to decorate the rooms. One of our favorite furniture [pieces is] the blue little console, as we found it in the street and restored it." The last item they bought is the gold Moroccan mirror from Dunelm in the living room. "We love it; it feels bohemian but elegant and brings in more light to the wall." Credit: Monica GuechCredit: Monica Guech
"The kitchen is our favorite space in the house — especially in the morning when we have breakfast together before school run, we get to chat for a little before the day starts," she writes. The entire kitchen is from IKEA, and they chose two colors for the cabinets. "The stools and a few other accessories are from Dunelm." Credit: Monica GuechCredit: Monica Guech
The couple gave their kids the bigger of the two bedrooms. "Ocean has a cot and Joy a single bed. The sofa is in the middle facing their TV, and they love playing and reading books together. It is colorful and bright. It feels fun and cozy," Monica describes. Credit: Monica GuechCredit: Monica Guech
"Our bedroom is super small but feels very cozy," Monica explains. "For us the best thing we have done in our renovation was to first rebuild the second floor upstairs, so we could live and be comfortable with the kids on the second floor while we were doing the first floor renovation." Credit: Monica GuechCredit: Monica Guech
The downstairs bathroom is their own design. "We added a window next to the bath and it brings so much light and [view of] the green trees; it feels so peaceful," Monica explains. "We added a few accessories from Dunelm and a black big mirror from IKEA" Credit: Monica GuechCredit: Monica Guech
"The upstairs shower bathroom is my favorite," she writes. "It is our own design; it wasn't a shower before — only a small toilet — so we had to take some space from the upstairs hallway to make it bigger and be able to add everything. We are super happy with the end result. We bought everything from Victoria Plumbing and a few accessories from IKEA and Dunelm." Credit: Monica GuechCredit: Monica Guech
Adrian, a TV producer and director, and Monica Guech, a Spanish singer, have renovated their entire house, which they’ve lived in for the past two years. The family of four, which includes 6-year-old girl, Joy, and 1-year-old boy, Ocean, share just two bedrooms in their 753-square-foot townhome.
Their home’s renovation started with updating the electrical and plumbing systems, and then moved on to updating the floors with new wood laminate downstairs and new carpet upstairs and on the stairs.
The couple loves the painting in their bedroom, "it is a special gift from the famous singer Dyango." They also love how the chandelier from Dunelm makes the space feel "like a Parisian room." Credit: Monica GuechCredit: Monica Guech
They next worked on updating the walls, taking off old wallpaper and plastering and painting them fresh. They took out the old chimney and built a “clean, modern” fireplace. After updating the kitchen and bathrooms they “finished” (because who is ever really finished?) the renovation by styling the space with furniture and accessories.
“In this time we have been rebuilding it while living in the house, with our kids, and doing most of the work ourselves,” Monica writes. “[It was d]ifficult and upsetting at times, but as they say: Beginnings are always messy and at the end it gets better.”
"During the rebuilding we didn't have a kitchen for two months, [and having takeout food] every night felt very tiring. So finally when we finished the kitchen it felt like a very big accomplishment," Monica writes. "We love the combination of colors and the breakfast bar; we also use it as an office desk so that's great." Credit: Monica GuechCredit: Monica Guech
It’s a pretty small space for a family of four, and their biggest goal was to fit in all the different areas that their family would need without making it feel cluttered. They’ve accomplished it.
“Despite being a small house, we managed to fit two bathrooms and we are very happy about this. The whole family getting ready in the mornings can be very hectic,” Monica writes.
"We decided to give the kids the bigger room, as they need more space to play and create their imaginary world. Our bedroom its small but with our double bed, closet, and a space for night tables its all we need. It feels cozy. It’s our own adult space that we get to light candles and unwind from our day," Monica writes. Credit: Monica GuechCredit: Monica Guech
Thanks, Monica!
This tour’s responses and photos were edited for length/size and clarity.
FDIC Chair Martin Gruenberg rebuffed calls to resign during a heated House hearing Wednesday, as he pledged to fix a toxic workplace culture while his agency prepares an overhaul of how banks are regulated.
The Shark AI robot vacuum and mop has dropped to a record low of $230 at Amazon. This is a version of our favorite robovac, but doesn’t include the base.
Jake Mintz & Jordan Shusterman break down all the new Statcast hitting metrics released by MLB, the Phillies success that’s led to them to being the first team to 30 wins this season, the Angels continuing to be a disappointment and other news from around the league.
Grab an Avapow jump starter for less than $80 right now at Walmart thanks to this great half-off deal and never have to worry about a dead battery again.
Google has unveiled Wear OS 5 at its I/O developer conference today, giving us a glimpse of new features and other improvements coming with the platform.
